Waffle Calzones

So, what do you do in the summer when you want pizza, but you really don't want to turn on the oven? (Or in my case, you can't because your oven is out of commission.) You pull out your waffle iron, of course! I used my calzone recipe without modification, other than how it was cooked.

And I actually like the texture better of these waffles, the iron gives it a perfect crust! And they are really fun for kids!

Waffle Calzones
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon fast-rising yeast
1 tablespoon honey (or agave)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3 cups GF flour blend
1 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 cup additional warm water
Pizza Sauce
Pizza Toppings (pepperoni, cheese (daiya cheese), Canadian bacon, veggies, etc)

Directions:
Preheat waffle iron (I set mine to the highest setting, but it may be because I have a cheap crappy waffle iron). In a small bowl mix together water, yeast, honey, oil, and vinegar.  Let sit for 5 minutes to proof.

In a stand mixer, combine flour and salt.  Add in the yeast mixture and mix on low until combined.

Add in enough additional water to make the dough sticky but stay together as a ball.  This won't be the typical gluten-free bread dough which is a thick, sticky batter.  It's does actually resemble regular bread dough, but is quite a bit sticky. Some days I don't need to add anything, other days I could add up to a 1/4 cup to get the right consistency.

Once the consistency is right, mix it on high speed for 3-5 minutes.

Place the dough on parchment paper that has been sprinkled with GF flour. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and form each into a ball. Roll out each ball into a circle about 1/8" thick and about 9-10" in diameter. (note: I made the calzones one at a time, because it meant moving that dough, just once)

Top one half of the dough with a little pizza sauce and toppings of your choice, making sure to leave space around the edges to seal it.

Fold the dough over and press the edges together.

Transfer the prepared calzone to the greased waffle iron and cook for ~8 minutes or until the calzone is cooked through (cook times will very much depend on your waffle iron). Prepare the next calzone, while the first is cooking.

Serve with additional pizza sauce, or ranch in my families case.

Makes 4 large calzones (which was just enough for 2 adults and 2 hungry little boys).

This post was shared on Allergy Friendly Wednesdays, Waste Not Want Not Wednesdays, and Gluten Free Fridays.

Calzones

Do you have those days where you are really craving something?  It just sounds so good and you want it so bad?  Yeah, that was me on Saturday.  I really wanted a calzone.  And a funny thing about that, I never ate calzones before my diet change.  But, I really wanted one, so I thought, maybe if I used my pita bread recipe as a starting point, that might work.  And work, it did!  My husband (who is the gluten eater in our family) absolutely loved it!  He told me he actually likes it even more than my usual pizza crust.  My little one only finished about half of his huge calzone...but asked me later that evening if he could have the rest, "because it is just so good."  And my older son, who is going through a 'non-eating' phase (he eats, just not very much) ate it really well, too.  So this was a huge success and will be made again and again in my home, so I hope your home enjoys it as much as ours has!

 This picture is to give you an idea on how much sauce to use, and how much space to leave for crimping.

 How it looks right before going into the oven.

Calzones
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon fast-rising yeast
1 tablespoon honey (or agave)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3 cups GF flour blend
1 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 cup additional warm water
Pizza Sauce
Pizza Toppings (pepperoni, cheese (daiya cheese), Canadian bacon, veggies, etc)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. In a small bowl mix together water, yeast, honey, oil, and vinegar.  Let sit for 5 minutes to proof.

In a stand mixer, combine flour and salt.  Add in the yeast mixture and mix on low until combined.

Add in enough additional water to make the dough sticky but stay together as a ball.  This won't be the typical gluten-free bread dough which is a thick, sticky batter.  It's does actually resemble regular bread dough, but is quite a bit sticky. I added in just under 1/4 cup to get mine to the right consistency.

Once the consistency is right, mix it on high speed for 3-5 minutes.

Place the dough on parchment paper that has been sprinkled with GF flour. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and form each into a ball. Roll out each ball into a circle about 1/8" thick and about 9-10" in diameter. (note: I made the calzones one at a time, because it meant moving that dough, just once)

Top one half of the dough with a little pizza sauce and toppings of your choice, making sure to leave space around the edges to seal it.

Fold the dough over and crimp the edges together (like you would with a pie crust).

Transfer the calzone to a parchment lined baking sheet (or transfer it on the parchment paper you rolled it out and prepared it on) and continue on with the next calzone.  Once all the calzones are ready, brush them with a little olive oil and bake them at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with additional pizza sauce, or ranch in my families case.

Makes 4 large calzones (which was just enough for 2 adults and 2 hungry little boys).

This post was shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Gluten Free Tuesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love, Whole Foods Fridays, and Gluten Free Fridays.

Deep Dish Pizza

So, we have pizza fairly often in our house.  And I have some fantastic pizza crust recipes (this one and this one), but that doesn't stop me from experimenting.  I decided to set out and make a pan style pizza, and it turned out fairly well.  My boys devoured it, so I call that a success.

Deep Dish Pizza
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon fast rising yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3 cups GF flour blend
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons gelatin
2 egg whites
toppings of choice

Directions

In a small bowl  mix together water, yeast, oil, honey, and vinegar.  Let sit for ~3-5 minutes. In a medium bowl (I used my stand mixer for this), stir together dry ingredients.  Add the yeast mixture and mix on low speed until combined, add in the egg whites and mix.  Then mix on high speed for a couple of minutes.  The dough should become very thick, but slightly sticky.

Generously coat two 9" cake pans with oil.  Divide the dough in half and place each in a cake pan.  Wet a spatula or your fingers with water and press the dough into each pan.  Cover the pans and allow them to rise for 30 minutes in a warm spot.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Uncover dough and top with your favorite toppings.  Cook for ~45 minutes at 350F, and enjoy! 

Yields: Two 9" pizzas

This post was shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love, Gluten Free Fridays, Allergy Friendly Fridays, and Whole Food Fridays.

Teff Pizza Crust

I have been on a Teff kick lately.  I don't eat sandwiches very often, rarely actually.  But whenever I make my Teff Sandwich bread, I make excuses to make a sandwich.  I ate an entire loaf of it myself in 3 days this week, that's a record for me.  Well, this teff obsession lead me to wonder how my pizza crust recipe would turn out if I subbed teff for the sorghum and millet...this is the result and I LOVE it!

Teff Pizza Crust
1 3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon fast-rising dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 
1 1/2 cups gf flour blend 
1 3/4 cup teff flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (one packet of Knox Gelatine)


Directions

In a small bowl  mix together water, yeast, oil, honey, and vinegar.  Let sit for ~3-5 minutes. In a medium bowl (I used my stand mixer for this), stir together dry ingredients.  Add the yeast mixture and mix on low speed until combined.  Then mix on high speed for 3 minutes.

Layout a few pieces of parchment paper. Divide dough into 5-6 portions.  I do this by places dollops of the dough on the parchment paper. Spread dough out using a rubber spatula. Dip spatula in water occasionally to keep the dough from sticking.  Each crust should be about 6" in diameter and about 1/4" or so thick.  Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (I always use the top of my range, while my oven is preheating) for about 30-40 minutes.

Place pizza stone on the bottom rack of oven and heat oven to 425F.  Uncover dough and cook 1-2 at a time on the pizza stone for 7-8 minutes.  At this point you can cool and freeze the pizza crusts, so you have a bunch on hand when you want something quick for dinner, or you can top them with sauce and toppings and place them directly back onto the stone for another 6-8 minutes, or until it's heated through.

Yields: ~5-6 6" personal size pizzas

This post was shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Fridays, Allergy Friendly Fridays, and Whole Food Fridays.

Udi's Review

I am so incredibly behind on reviews, but this one, no matter how behind I get, really needs to be done.  I LOVE UDI'S!  They saved us when I changed my older son's diet, he has been the pickiest with the gf breads, and Udi's has allowed him to enjoy PB&J's again.

I recently got the opportunity to become a community ambassador for Udi's.  This means I get to share the love at Gluten-free meetings and at in-store demos, etc.  I'm not bound to only love Udi's, so I can still try and review other products, but I chose to affiliate myself with this company because of how they have helped us on our gluten-free journey.

Being an ambassador, I got to try everything in the product lineup: (1) Udi's Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread, (2) Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread, (3) Cinnamon Raisin Bread, (4) Udi's Gluten Free Plain Bagels, (5) Whole Grain Bagels, (6) Cinnamon Raisin Bagels, (7) Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust, (8) Udi's Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls, (9) Udi's Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins, (10) Udi's Gluten Free Double Chocolate Muffins, (11) Udi's Gluten Free Lemon Streusel Muffins, (12) Udi's Gluten Free Granola, Au Naturel, (13) Udi's Gluten Free Granola, Cranberry, (14) Udi's Gluten Free Granola, Vanilla, and (15)Udi's Gluten Free Granola, Original.


Fifteen products, and they all have been amazing.  When I conveniently switched my boys bread from their white sandwich bread (which they love!) to the whole grain, they didn't even notice.  What mom can say that about switching from white to whole wheat?!?!  So, yes, we are now big fans of the whole grain bread.  I already am a huge fan of their plain bagels, and their whole grain and cinnamon raisin do not disappoint.  My older son is loving bagels now, too.  I don't think he ever really ate bagels before our diet change, but he definitely does now.  I have to say with both the cinnamon raisin bagels, and the cinnamon raisin bread.  That option was always taken for granted.  I chose so many other types of bagels over cinnamon raisin back in my gluten days, but really I almost cried when I ate the cinnamon raisin bagel for the first time.  Being able to have an option at all, meant more than I could imagine.

The muffins are amazingly good, they are like those jumbo bakery muffins that I used to indulge in, I love them.  I've already raved about the double chocolate muffins, which by the way, I never get to eat, because my boys down them too fast.  But the blueberry ones are like eating fresh blueberries, they are so good.  But, I think my favorite is the lemon streusel, I love lemon and they have just the right amount in the muffin, with just the right amount of chewiness.  It's simply heavenly.

I think my boys two favorite things, beyond what they already have as regular favorites, were the cinnamon rolls and the pizza crust.  My older one begged me for cinnamon rolls for days when we tried them for the first time.  And the pizza crust is our new regular.  The first time we had it, my older son ate the crusts off of everyone's plate....he never eats the crusts!!!  It is a thin crust, and we usually go for thicker crusts, but they were so incredibly easy and so tasty, it definitely is a new regular in the house.

Now for the granola, can a just say how happy I am that I can snack on granola again...and how amazing it is that their original granola has pistachios, I love it!  All of their granola is really tasty, and I find myself looking for ways to add granola to everything, just so I have an excuse to eat it. :)

Quite simply put, all of Udi's gluten-free products get 10 out of 10 from me and my family, they have given us back some of that normalcy and convenience we have been missing.  Once again:  I LOVE UDI'S!!!

Valentine's Pizzas

I'm sorry, I haven't been posting much lately.  I've been busy at work, and tired when I get home, so we've been eating whatever happens to be easiest at the moment--thank goodness for Udi's bread, so we can eat plenty of sandwiches lately.  I'm also grateful that my boys will happily eat hot dogs without buns, because we've done that way to often lately, too.  But, at least on Valentine's day I made an effort for my little guys (and my husband, too) and we made heart shaped pizzas.  The pictures are below.  I used my pizza crust recipe and my friend's pizza sauce recipe.  Now my little ones are excited about making pizza in different shapes, so I'm pretty sure we'll have star, triangle, crescent, and square pizzas, but isn't that what makes homemade pizza fun?

Ha ha, can you guess which half is mine? I love my veggies. :) And my little one loves his with Daiya cheese, thank you Daiya for making decent vegan cheese!

Pizza Crust

Okay, I think I am finally finished changing, converting, and manipulating pizza crust recipes...at least for now.  I made pizza tonight and it turned out pretty good.  It was had some crispness from the pizza stone, but wasn't too heavy, like some crusts I've made.  It has a good flavor, we all ate till we were stuffed, so that's a good sign. :)  I make my own pizza sauce using my friend's recipe, it's simple and really good. And I'm sure you can tell by the pictures everyone has their own preference for toppings.  I don't put daiya cheese on my half, but my little one loves it on his half, and my older son and hubby, who can eat dairy, smother theirs with cheese.  By the way, my hubby is not gluten intolerant, but he does eat my pizza, along with about everything else I make.  He is really the one I gauge if the recipe is good or not, and he ate half a pizza...so it's a hit! :)

Homemade Pizza Crust

1 3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon fast-rising dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups gf flour blend (if not using my blend, make sure your blend has xanthan gum or add 2 tsp. of it)
1 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup millet flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (one packet of Knox Gelatine)


Directions

In a small bowl  mix together water, yeast, oil, honey, and vinegar.  Let sit for ~3-5 minutes. In a medium bowl (I used my stand mixer for this), stir together dry ingredients.  Add the yeast mixture and mix on low speed until combined.  Then mix on high speed for 3 minutes.

Layout 2 pieces of parchment paper that are at least 14" long. Divide dough in half.  Spread half of dough onto each piece of parchment paper, using a rubber spatula. Dip spatula in water occasionally to keep the dough from sticking.  Each crust should be about 12" in diameter and about 1/4" or so thick.  Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (I always use the top of my range, while my oven is preheating) for about 30-40 minutes.

Place pizza stone on the bottom rack of oven and heat oven to 425F.  Uncover dough and cook one at a time (unless you have a bigger stone than mine :) then you can do both) on the pizza stone for 8-10 minutes.  At this point you can cool and freeze the pizza crusts, so you have a bunch on hand when you want something quick for dinner, or you can top them with sauce and toppings and place them directly back onto the stone for another 10-15 minutes.

Yields: Two 9-10" pizza crusts or one 12-13" crust

This post is featured on The Gluten Free Homemaker's Gluten Free Wednesdays

Catching up

I feel like I've been MIA lately.  I have had a cold and have just been exhausted...so, I'm behind on my posting. First up, I got a humburger bun pan (I think they are actually called muffin top pans) for Christmas and I put it to the test and I love it! The buns turned out the perfect size and height!  We definitely enjoyed our hamburgers that night.

 

 I have tried a few new recipes from Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts.  She also has has a website with recipes, too.  The hamburger buns above were from her dinner rolls recipe, the bun recipe from her website is quite similar, just different ratios of the sorghum and millet.  I, of course, used So Delicious Coconut Milk instead of regular milk. They were pretty tasty, my one complaint was that the crumbled horribly the next day.  Fansastic and light fresh from the oven, so make just enough for what you need.

Yesterday, we made her pizza crust, and that was decent, too.  It was not as heavy as the pizza crust I make using Silvana Nardone's recipe from Cooking for Isaiah, but I like both of them for different reasons...so I guess I'll just have to experiment and combine the two. :)

So, for far this has been another decent cookbook.  There still is conversion to make the recipes dairy-free and soy-free, but that's not hard to do.

Next up, Katz Gluten Free Bakery sent me some of there products as samples to try.  Everything they make is gluten-free and dairy-free! We received their Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sliced Challah Bread, Dinner Rolls (Small Challah), and Cinnamon Rugelech.  By far, the boys favorite was the chocolate chip cookies, they couldn't stop eating them. And I do have to say they were quite delicious.  The Cinnamon Rugelech was also quite delicious.  It was like a delicate cinnamon roll...more like pastry, because rolls are heavier. :)  The challah bread definitely had that egg taste to it, my little one couldn't eat it because it has soy flour, but I've been eating it, and it makes great sandwiches.  The rolls we have not had yet (they also have soy flour), but I'm sure they are pretty similar to the bread.  Overall, the food was pretty good, the prices are decent, especially when they have free shipping sales (so, watch for that).

Barbecue Turkey Pizza

Well, I'm sure you can guess from the title...I'm trying to use up my leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.  Honestly, I love just eating leftovers, having my Thanksgiving meal over and over...but my family doesn't.  My husband refuses to eat anything that's classified as a leftover, so I have to get creative, so it doesn't appear to be leftovers.  This first recipe, really isn't a recipe, just what I did to use up some of the turkey, mainly because my favorite type of pizza before this new diet was Pier 49's Lombard Street--which is a barbecue chicken pizza...this worked to fill my craving. :)

Barbecue Turkey Pizza

barbecue sauce
cooked turkey, chopped
cooked pizza crust
cheese or dairy-free alternative (optional)
olive oil

Directions
Toss turkey with 1-2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce, set aside.  Brush Pizza Crust with Olive Oil. Spread the rest of the barbecue sauce onto the pizza crust and top with turkey and cheese.

Bake on a pizza stone at 450F for 6-8 minutes

Cooking with Isaiah Part 2 and the best pizza ever, and I mean it this time!

Okay, so I have already reviewed the cookbook, Cooking for Isaiah, but I am still testing her recipes, and they are so good I have to bring this cookbook up again.  I made the banana pancakes with cinnamon goo (basically cinnamon syrup), and it was literally eating banana bread in pancake form with this warm, gooey, cinnamon syrup that just made it perfect comfort food.  Sadly, all of my boys (husband included) were being picky that night and they ate regular gf pancakes--they definitely missed out.  But when I made pizza, it was a different story.

She has mastered the gluten-free pizza crust.  Really, I think the key is using the pizza stone.  I finally pulled mine out that I got when I was married, and realized why these stones exist...if you don't have a stone, go buy one, now, I mean it!  Her crust is very simple and straight forward and it came out fantastic, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside---and, and this is a big and, it was fantastic the next day for leftovers.  Not just okay, it was actually fantastic! It wasn't in the least bit soggy, like every other gluten free crust I've tried, it was still crispy, and chewy on the inside.

Really, go out and buy the book, this recipe you will use over and over and over again!  And while you're out, buy a pizza stone if you don't have one. :)

Kinnikinnick Personal-Size Pizza Crusts and Daiya Cheddar Cheese -- Review

Never judge a company by one bad experience!  I'm so glad I haven't done that with Kinnikinnick, because there has only been one product (their bread) that we haven't liked, and this is no exception.  The Kinnikinnick Personal-Size Pizza Crusts is a pack of 4 personal size pizza crusts, perfect for our family of four.  You keep them frozen until use, just top with sauce and whatever toppings, bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes and viola! pizza, your very own!  And its the best tasting crust we've had yet...my older one said, "Mom, this tastes like restaurant pizza!"  Yay!

 
The only downside was the boys didn't like the leftovers the next day...I didn't mind them, but I think I'm about as unpicky as you can get.


Overall Rating 9 out of 10  Very yummy, even for my gluten eating husband, but didn't work as leftovers.


I love Daiya, thank you for making dairy-free, soy-free cheese that resembles cheese!  I wrote a review about their mozzarella shreds.  Okay, this one is really good, too.  It definitely reminds me of cheddar, or at least American cheese. ;)  It makes great grilled cheese sandwiches, and when my little one saw he could eat orange cheese again, he kissed the package--if a 3-year old will kiss a cheese package, you know its good!

Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds

Downside, like I said with the other post, no calcium, also it cost me $5.79 a packet. :(  But we're used to paying extra for everything, right?

Overall rating 9 out of 10 Really great taste and texture, but no nutritional value.

Kinnikinnick English Muffins -- Review

Yes, more kinnikinnick to review, but it really is a good brand for the most part, so it's definitely worth trying their products.  My mother-in-law bought these english muffins for us and most of them will be used to make mini pizzas for the boys at day care, but I did want to test them out as well, so I did.

I was a bit worried after trying their bread, but was pleasantly surprised.  It's definitely not a english muffin by any means, more like a chewy hamburger bun, it it's still statisfying.  I think that it may be the same recipe as the bread, or at least similar, but having it in a muffin/bun form definitely gives it a different texture, it doesn't crumble like the bread did--but I really think that's because it's not sliced bread.

I first tried it toasted with freshly made plum jam on top and it was so yummy!  I then used another muffin for 2 mini pizzas for Dominic and I (so yes, they had Daiya cheese on top).  I think that was the best gluten-free pizza I've had, and it was so stinking easy.  I thawed the muffins, split it, and toasted it.  Then topped it with pizza sauce and the cheese and put it under the broiler for a couple minutes.  This will be my new go to lunch for the boys when we need something quick.

Overall Rating 8 out of 10  They are not english muffins in taste and texture, but they still are tasty and work really, really well for min pizzas, so I will be buying these again.

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix -- Review

I happened to see this mix at the store, I checked the ingredients and saw there was no bean flour (I'm starting my older son on the gf diet this weekend, and I wanted to make sure he would eat it, and I know he would definitely not eat a bean flour pizza crust), so I thought I'd give it a try.  You can see the ingredients in the pictures below and how easy the directions are, this is great for a Friday night after working a full work week, and coming home wanting to order a pizza, knowing you can't, and not wanting to measure out 10 different ingredients. :)

The crust was nice and thick and at least, amost chewy, so close to what a pizza crust should be.  It browned nicely and even tasted okay the next day when we reheated it.  The crust has a little bit sweet taste to it, I'm guessing that it is the sorghum, but it was still tasty.  In the future, if I use this mix again, I think I'll had some Italian seasoning to the dough to help compliment flavors between the crust and the toppings.

The really nice thing about the mix, it made two 12" pizzas...so we could have one with regular cheese and one with soy cheese, making everybody happy. :)

Overall Rating  7 out of 10  It was good and quite convenient, but I know that I could probably make one that tastes better, but there is a very good chance that I'll buy it again, just for convenience sake.

Pizza + Gluten Free Bisquick -- Review

So, tonight was one of those nights I really didn't feel like cooking...and if I could have I probably would have ordered pizza.  But, I really didn't want a double whammy from eating both gluten and cheese, so I pulled out the box of gluten-free bisquick that I bought the other day at Macey's (by the way, it's not with the gluten-free foods, it's by the other Bisquick boxes...go figure).  On the box was a recipe for pizza crust, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I topped it with this pizza sauce, cheese over 3/4 of it and on my section tomatoes and mushrooms (since I can't have cheese).

It turned out pretty good...it's more like a pie crust, than a pizza crust, but it was tasty.  I think the gluten-free family members liked it best.  My husband only ate one piece, and my older son had to be forced to try it (he ended up eating about 3 bites), while I ate 2 pieces and my 2 year old ate his entire piece.  So, the verdict is mixed...but if you're gluten-free, you'll probably just be happy eating pizza, so you'll enjoy it. :)

I do like the taste of the crust...no strange tastes or textures with it, it really was pleasant to eat. I will review it again as I test it in different recipes.

Rating: 7 out of 10  I really enjoyed it, the mix made life a little easier (meaning, I didn't have to measure quite so many flours) and I got my 2 year old to eat something (but couldn't get my 5 year old on board with it).  I would make it again for at least the gluten-free family members.